On the morning of March 27, President Ma Ying-jeou welcomed Republic of the Marshall Islands President Christopher J. Loeak and Mrs. Loeak to the ROC in a ceremony featuring full military honors. President Ma expressed hope that the two countries will continue to enhance their cooperative relationship, and that the bilateral alliance will be a lasting one.
The welcoming ceremony, featuring a 21-gun salute, got under way at 10 a.m. at Liberty Square in front of the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in downtown Taipei. The national anthems of the two countries were played and the two heads of state then reviewed the tri-service honor guard. President Ma and President Loeak then each delivered remarks, after which Taipei City Mayor Lung-Bin Hau (郝龍斌) presented President Loeak a key to the city. Vice President Wu Den-yih, senior ROC government officials, and members of the diplomatic corps stationed in the ROC were on hand to witness the welcoming ceremony.
In remarks, President Ma commented that both the ROC and the Marshall Islands are situated in the northern Pacific Ocean and have maintained a close friendship since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1998. The president pointed out that not long after President Loeak took office in January of 2012 he came to Taiwan to attend the ROC presidential inauguration on May 20, and then he came again in October last year to take part in the ROC's Double Tenth Day festivities. This visit marks President Loeak's first state visit to the ROC, President Ma noted. The president further expressed admiration for President Loeak's adherence to the principles of good governance, responsibility, and transparency in seeking to develop the Marshall Islands, improve its public services, enhance public wellbeing, and bolster the overall quality of his nation.
President Ma mentioned that the ROC government is presently striving to improve its domestic economy and hopes to see an upturn this year. He added that the ROC is also making every effort to participate meaningfully in international organizations and activities. Based on the principles of "safeguarding sovereignty, shelving disputes, pursuing peace and reciprocity, and promoting joint exploration and development," the president continued, the ROC unveiled the East China Sea Peace Initiative in August 2012.
During discussions later in the morning at the Presidential Office, President Ma noted that his counterpart has vowed to be the "education president," and in his inauguration address declared he would focus especially on transportation and education. President Ma remarked that the ROC has done all it can to assist with this effort. For instance, he noted, the Fisheries Research Institute under the Executive Yuan's Council of Agriculture has donated a fisheries research vessel named "Wealth of the Four Seas" to the Marshall Islands to improve transportation links between the islands of that nation. In addition, the ROC runs the Taiwan Scholarship Program, the TaiwanICDF International Higher Education Scholarship Programs, and all sorts of short-term training programs. Furthermore, the ROC is helping the Marshall Islands cultivate highly qualified talent via the Pacific Islands Leadership Partnership program, an initiative undertaken by the ROC in cooperation with the East-West Center in Hawaii, he said. The president also mentioned that the Central Training Center of the Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training under the Council of Labor Affairs is training five Marshall Islands’ vocational education seed instructors in hopes of creating a greater pool of skilled talent for that nation.
With respect to cooperation projects between the two countries, President Ma further stated, the ROC and the Marshall Islands maintain close cooperation in the fields of clean energy, agricultural technology, vocational education, and health care. He pointed out that he saw firsthand the achievements of many of these projects when he visited the Marshall Islands in March 2010. The president said he was pleased with the results and called for continued expansion of cooperation so as to further deepen the bilateral relationship.
The delegation led by President Loeak was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Republic of the Marshall Islands Ambassador to the ROC Phillip K. Kabua to meet with President Ma. Also attending the meeting were Vice President Wu Den-yih, Secretary-General to the President Timothy Chin-Tien Yang (楊進添), Minister of Foreign Affairs David Y. L. Lin (林永樂), and ROC Ambassador to the Republic of the Marshall Islands George T. K. Li (李自剛).